Physicians and scientists have long been aware that certain chemical substances contained in foods have an adverse effect on the human body. The list of health disorders linked to foods we eat is vast, including, among many others: hypertension, heart disease, obesity, gastrointestinal problems (Celiac, IBS, chronic constipation, bloating), diabetes, chronic fatigue, skin disorders, arthritis, autoimmune disorders, ADD and migraines. Although some diseases are very complex in nature and take many months or years to develop, others have a more defined and immediate connection to foods we eat daily.
Both consumers and healthcare practitioners have become increasingly aware of the impact foods have on our health. Substantial resources have been invested into identifying foods linked to most common health disorders (hereinafter referred to as “Trigger Foods”).
An example of Trigger Foods is those foods containing Gluten. Research increasingly is backing up claims that millions of people are sensitive to this protein compound found in wheat. Emerging studies have shown gluten-free diets to be helpful for reducing symptoms associated with a wide variety of serious health disorders, such as ADD/ADHD, autism, depression, chronic fatigue, Irritable Bowel Syndrome and general digestive health.
Other notable Trigger Foods include, by way of example, cow milk, cane sugar, eggs, and nightshade vegetables. The chemical substances contained in foods that cause the adverse effect on the body (herein referred to as “Trigger Substances”) include, among others, certain proteins (such as gluten, casein, lectin), sugars (lactose), alkaloids, and biogenic amines (histamine, Tyramine).
Physicians and nutritionists, in the course of their practice, routinely attempt to identify the link between Trigger Foods, Trigger Substances and certain health conditions in their patients. This is typically done through a process of elimination. Elimination diets have become a staple in the arsenal of treatment modalities of healthcare practitioners. Unfortunately, identifying the Trigger Foods through elimination diets is a daunting hit-and-miss process that takes months to complete. Patients are required to maintain detailed food journals in the hope of identifying a single Trigger Food for their health condition. Complicating matters is that many health conditions can be caused by multiple Trigger Substances, some Trigger Substances can cause multiple health conditions, and some Trigger Foods contain multiple Trigger Substances. Thus, if a patient presents with multiple symptoms, it becomes extremely difficult, if not impossible, to identify the correct Trigger Foods responsible for the patient's health conditions via a manual process due to the large number of possible combinations of Trigger Foods and Trigger Substances. Furthermore, the effect of Trigger Substances on the body is dose dependent; i.e., a higher amount of a Trigger Substance contained in a Trigger Food will have a more pronounced adverse effect. Thus, it is not enough to merely identify a specific Trigger Food that may contribute to a health condition; it is necessary to know how much relevant Trigger Substance is actually contained in the specific Trigger Food.
Moreover, the practitioner has to consider additional variables affecting the individual patient's susceptibility to Trigger Substances; these may include age, gender, ethnicity, genetic predisposition, medications taken, and medical history, among others. Even if one could correctly identify and separate all Trigger Foods and Trigger Substances responsible for the individual's symptoms via a manual process, it may be difficult and time-consuming and may not be feasible to quantify the effect of those Trigger Foods and rank them in the order of significance for each symptom (i.e., rank from highest to lowest the probability of causation of a particular symptom by each Trigger Food).
Thus, a method or system of efficiently and systematically identifying and quantifying the causation probability of certain health conditions by specific Trigger Substances and Trigger Foods consumed by the individual may be beneficial. Such a method or system would be of significant benefit in modalities of disease prevention and treatment, and could be incorporated into standard differential diagnosis methodology universally used by healthcare practitioners throughout the world.